The gift of a loners friendship
by BlackCatBlackRose
Summary: There's a new warrior is Forest Clan. Honey' Throat, a sensible and often dramatic cat, is absolutely content with her life in her clan, but when she encounters a loner for the first time, her confidence about living a clan life starts to slip.


**Hey guys, this is my first story. Constructive feedback is welcome. I will post more chapters for this story, although I have more ideas for other stories. **

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Blinking as the first rays of light shone down through the trees, HoneyThroat stood up and looked around the camp. It was completely silent, all that could be heard was the rustle of leaves and the trickle of water. Smiling to herself, she remembered her warrior's ceremony, and how she had sat vigil throughout the night.

She looked to her left as two elders hobbled slowly out of a den and sat down next to a fallen log. They perked their ears up as the call of a bird echoed through the camp walls. They turned to each other and began to whisper to each other, not disturbing the rest of the camp.

Stretching out her front legs, she extended her fluffy tail above her ears. Drawing herself back in, she opened her jaw wide letting a humongous yawn escape and padded towards the fresh-kill pile, relieved to see it replenished. Placing her teeth on a small firm sparrow, she dragged it away from the pile, until she reached a boulder on the far side of the camp.

Relaxing herself, she flopped down on the moss, leaving the bird to rest in front of her. Leaning forward she took a small bite. Chewing slowly, but thoughtfully, she closed her eyes, savoring the juicy meat.

Abruptly, a shadow cast over her, distracting her concentration. HoneyThroat looks up as white and light grey cat stares down at her.

"Hey Honey' Throat, I'm Cloud' Song. I understand you only just sat your vigil, but you have to come on dawn patrol with me, Rye' Belly and Rubble' Mask." Honey' Throat swallowed her mouthful, nodding.

"I'll go wake the others and meet you at the entrance," CloudSong said before turning around and disappearing into the warrior's den.

Devouring the sparrow, she stood up and hurried to the entrance. CloudSong joined her a few seconds later with two other cats. RyeBelly taking the lead, the cats filed out into the brightly colored open forest.

Travelling along a lengthy, worn out path that ran to the border of their territory, the cats trotted at a swift pace, jumping over logs, and avoiding sharp stones dug into the ground. They dodged the spiky green plants reaching out at them from the side of the trail. The leafy green plants and trees started to fade out as the patrol closed in on the borders of their territory. A few fox-tails from the end of the path, a collection of bright purple cat-mint bushes sat, contrasting against the brown dirt on the ground. A scrawny black cat crouching in front of the bush, looked up at the patrol, surprised. With a mouthful of cat-mint, he jumped up, trying to scramble away.

"TwistedWing!" RyeBelly spat at the cat. As TwistedWing halted to look back at the she who had said his name, RubbleMask took the opportunity and pounced on the gaunt cat. Pinning him down, RubbleMask hissed at the cat and pushed the cat-mint out of his mouth and onto the ground as TwistedWing struggled underneath the large warrior. RubbleMask's eyes went dark and unresponsive as he stared down at the cat. The air filled with a strange scent, like the ashes of a forest fire and death mixing together. TwistedWing yowled and hissed loudly, fear in his eyes. RubbleMask put a paw harshly on the tom's throat. TwistedWing's breaths became more shallow and raspy.

"Don't stop him from breathing!" CloudSong shrieked, as HoneyThroat wailed alongside her. RyeBelly barreled into RubbleMask, attempting to shove him off TwistedWing. RubbleMask released his grip but didn't move off.

As the strange scent disappeared, RubbleMask, his eyes regained their light, and he became responsive again. Stepping back from TwistedWing, he looked down at the ground.

Standing up again, TwistedWing spat at the tom who had pinned him. "What was that for? Were you trying to kill me?"

"I-I-I don't know why I did that." RubbleMask trailed off. He shuffled his big paws on the ground.

Ignoring the awkward glare between the two, HoneyThroat piped up. "Why were you on our territory anyway?"

"Because WhitePaw asked me to go with her to get cat-mint."

"Then where is she?" RyeBelly asked rudely. Just as she asked, a dark brown and white apprentice stepped out of the bush behind them.

"H-here," she said quietly. A white cat with ginger paws padded up to TwistedWing's side and looked up at the warriors standing in front of her. "FallenHawk said we had his permission to go onto your clan's territory to get cat-mint. And I had stepped around the bushes because I was trying to find the best cat-mint, but when I heard fighting and yowls, I panicked…"

"It's okay, WhitePaw," TwistedWing purred softly, pressing his flank against the small apprentice.

"Sorry for causing trouble," WhitePaw apologized. "We should leave now, I have enough cat-mint for the clan." Turning around she left with her bundle of cat-mint in her mouth. Twisted' Wing snorted and followed her across the border.

Remembering RubbleMask's episode, HoneyThroat glanced cautiously at his face, wondering what had happened to him. Shaking off the thoughts, she padded forward, motioning with her tail for the others to follow.

Padding along the border, HoneyThroat listened to the calls of birds and the whistle of the wind blowing through the air. CloudSong walked beside her, staring ahead into the forest.

It was almost sun high as the patrol came through the entrance to their camp. HoneyThroat watched CloudSong trot over to the leader's den and disappear into the boulder. RyeBelly had already gone over to chat to her mate, while RubbleMask was nowhere to be seen.

A familiar voice piped up next to her. Cocking her head, she looked down to find one of MudStripe's kits staring up at her with big yellow eyes.

"No one wants to play with us." Tatteredkit whined. "Can you play with us?" Two other kits came running up behind her.

"Please!" they cooed. Giving the kits a sympathetic smile, she took a deep breath.

"Sure, I have a game we can play." She stepped forward slowly, so the kits could keep up. "So, everyone must go and collect leaves from the bushes around the camp. Bring them back so we can see how many you get. The cat with the most leaves wins."

As the kits scattered around, trying to hold leaves too big for their mouths, HoneyThroat laid down in the shade under the oak tree.


End file.
